Tuesday, January 31, 2006

aidan got a mohawk

 


My eight year old nephew is now sporting an honest to goodness mohawk. Which is pretty danged funny to me, and cute. I wish that he would have stayed still enough for me to photograph him with his whole outfit on, because he dressed all in gap kids stuff, and was sporting a button down shirt, buttoned all the way to the top, and a pair of khaki pants. I don't think mohawks mean the same thing anymore. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, January 28, 2006

round and round

argh! I still can't think of a domain name that sounds good. My name is long and has an unpleasant blending of consonants (two h's in a row, makes for weird reading).

meredithhamilton.com is taken, as I said before, by an illustrator in Brooklyn. I could use meredith-hamilton.com, but it seems like there could easily be confusion. I could do meredithswork.com , but it sounds kind of dull. How on earth do people do this? I thought that art websites were supposed to use the artist's name as the .com. And if you can't or don't choose to use your name, I think you're supposed to come up with something clever.

woe is me



look at how cool this is though (via boingboing so you've probably already seen it) It's a real scene, photographed to look like it is miniature. I have to learn how to do this!!!!


Friday, January 27, 2006

fun for kids




My sister told me about this site, my neice has been playing with it a lot, you can make rooms and houses and paper dolls. My daughter has been having a great time with it, this image is one that she made today.

elouai

a few more things


noodle soup, originally uploaded by monster town.

I love taking photos of food.

One of Scott's fabulous photos is going to be printed on some fancy modern furniture. Not sure what this will mean for Scott, but I hope that I get to see the finished product!

I got a wacom tablet for my computer so that I can draw directly into the computer. I'll post any results that seem interesting.

A few straggling resolution ideas:
use flickr better
take photos every day and share them
draw every day (probably said that already, but it's important!)

about this week

the skirt auction ended at $314.00!

my design job went well

roshambo show was brilliant---the wine, not so much i mean, it was good, just not good for me in particular

todd won the emerging artist's award!

photography studio set up (thanks scott!)

car got broken in to, the stereo was stolen, and my cd's, but he left me a half empty 40 of miller high life

Friday, January 20, 2006

Tale of the Leopard Print Skirt pt. 1

It's rather an exciting week for auctions over here. I'm writing this entry because nothing quite like this has happened to me before, and the outcome is uncertain.

Last week while the kids were at school I went to what is known around here as "The Dig". It's the hardcore bottom of the barrel clothing by the pound Goodwill processing center. It's kind of nasty, but also kind of fun. I only go there about once a year, because it takes a while to recover from it. The Dig is a big concrete warehouse where they wheel out these bales of clothing in rolling metal bins, and people dig through them, taking what they want, and throwing the rest on the floor. It can get ugly and territorial, and a strange frenzy overtakes some people.

I take a more casual approach, and have no need to be the first through a bin, I prefer to quietly go through the things on the floor. I always find plenty of great stuff, and am rarely surprised by anything mysterious or wet, like the bin diggers sometimes encounter.

Anyway, I was attracted by a leopard patterned piece of fabric I saw poking out of the pile, and when I picked it up, I could feel that it was a quality piece of clothing. The fabric was a thick, rich wool blend with some stretch, the construction of the thing was brilliant, and the label said that it was made in Italy, and the thing was in perfect condition. So I get the thing home and look up the name brand on ebay. It is "Alaia".

Wow! I find that Alaia things sell for big money, and that the designer Azzedine Alaia is somewhat of a fashion icon. Since my item is not brand new I didn't expect a whole lot though.



I took a somewhat cruddy photo of the skirt, and wrote a simple listing. Imagine my surprise when not 5 minutes after I listed it, I got a message from someone offering me $140 if I would end the auction right then and sell it to her! Tempting to be sure, but when that happens, it generally means that you have something that is special and worth lots. I decided to think on it and answer the person when I got back from picking up the kids.

An hour later, when I got home, there was a message from someone else, this time offering me $250!!! Dang! This offer was hard to refuse. (did I mention that I started the bidding at $12?) By this time however, there was a $12 bid, and it would be unethical of me to close the auction and sell it to someone else just because they offered me tons of cash. I can't accept any offer, right? Because I keep getting them! 5 different people so far have offered me money to stop the auction and sell the thing to them.

I'm getting the idea that this leopard print skirt is an iconic or rare design by Azzedine Alaia, and that makes it valuable to fashion collectors.

I'm going to do the ethical thing though, and honor the $12 bid. I wrote and told the others that I couldn't stop the auction and that they were welcome to bid at the low low price of $12, and that maybe they could scoop it up for $20. We shall see.

font love

I got myself an honest to goodness design client today! The project is going to be excellent and I'm really excited about it. The client has a clear idea of what she wants and an awesome color sense to boot!

So now I'm bopping around the internet, looking for fonts, and I found this great resource of free fonts that are not rip off's of commercial fonts, but are the fonts offered up by font designers. Typophile FAQ



The font above is called "Partisan" and it is from the foundry called Fountain Is it not cool?

new intentions for the old blog

It's list making time, and again I'm revisiting my intentions for this blog.

1. add links down the side
2. picture at the top
3. projects (!)
4. thrift blog
5. more photos
6. commenting more on other's blogs and getting connected with the community
7. writing more freely and colorfully


Our crazy bright kitchen with art by Joe Leonard (who doesn't seem to have a website, but is a famous tattoo artist from here, and a nice guy as well) with Jared Powell (top) and Hugh D'Andrade (bottom)

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

blah-di-blah

I need to get in to my new beautiful studio and start working. Look at it! This is just a tiny fraction of it's awesomeness.




It even has a sink! A sink, with cupboards and drawers and there are shelves and a small closet! Larissa gave me a bunch of Ikea cabinets, nice ones (Journalist) and they have room for all of my ebay items, and my printer and postage scale, and art books and supplies. I'm all set up with room for my ebay business and for art making, and even sewing. I still haven't done much art making yet though. I think I'm still getting used to the idea that it's mine. I'm sort of sneaking up on it or something.

I did do some sewing. I got out my collection of fancy decorator fabric samples, and vintage super luxurious upholstery fabrics, and I used it to make covers for Scott's collection of couch pillows.



Now I'm really going to go in to my lovely studio, with my P.G. Wodehouse audiobook, and work on the three new t-shirt designs that I'm supposed to do!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Laurel and Andy at Roshambo

My friends, Laurel Roth and Andy Diaz Hope are having a show at Roshambo Gallery in Healdsburg, this coming Saturday evening from 5-8pm. If you are anywhere near Sonoma County, please come out and see it. It's going to be beautiful! Look at these birds that Laurel has made. The bottom one is a peacock that is made from fake fingernails and dollar store hair clips and it's gorgeous.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

on the mend, let the new year begin!

My daughter is feeling much better. She was able to eat and drink a good amount yesterday, and is no longer throwing up. Now I need to figure out how we can all get all the way better. It really has been a while since we were all well.

I've been only halfway thinking about the new year, and what I'd like to do with it, because I know that being sick, I don't have the energy to do much and there's so much that I want to do this year. Here is a little round up of what I've been ruminating on, and I'll sum it up in my own way when I'm all the way better.

Merlin Mann over at 43Folders has a series called "Fresh Starts and Modest Changes". "As an antidote to the surfeit of New Year’s resolutions, we’ll be looking into smaller, less dramatic adjustments (that don’t require a drunken promise or a pointy paper hat)."

I like the project that is going on over at swirlygirl. A weekly creativity exercise.

Then there is the "Mondo Beyondo" from Superhero Journal. I like that a lot.

I have ideas that have been brewing for years, and I'm hoping that this is the year they will come to be.

Now I think that I should go back to bed.

Friday, January 06, 2006

long dark night

It's terrible when your children are sick. Z was so sick last night, she couldn't even keep a teaspoon of water down for longer than 20 minutes. I was afraid that I'd have to take her to the hospital. I was actually really afraid and had a bit of a difficult night. She's feeling a bit better now, and hasn't thrown up for the past 4 hours or so, and has had several drinks of water and a bit of popsicle. The popsicle actually might be a bit challenging for her. I'm brewing her some nice ginger tea right now that hopefully will be soothing.

S was feeling pretty lousy yesterday too I think, he has a deep cough that keeps him awake late into the night. Even with the inhaler that our doctor prescribed, and the humidifier. Actually, I think they both had trouble using the inhaler thingy. I used it and it helped me feel much much better.

Z is supposed to use the inhaler, and take antibiotics and lots of rest and fluids, but the antibiotics made her throw up as soon as she tasted them.

Scott was wonderful, and is getting quite the first month of "step parenthood" right from the frenetic holiday week, straight into pneumonia with constant vomiting. He's taking it really well (at least outwardly) and has been extremely supportive and helpful and kind and he gives very calming hugs.

Our doctor is also amazing. When she left for the second time last night, Scott was just sort of shaking his head. "She makes housecalls at 10 o'clock!" She called when she was getting off her shift at Kaiser and said, I'm going home now, I can stop by to see her if you want me to. So of course I said yes, and she came over and fed her spoonfuls of ice chips and checked out her heart rate and respiration and level of dehydration. When Z told her that the medicine was so yucky that it made her puke, our doctor asked if I would get it so that she could try a taste. That's just so cool.

I am so very thankful for her, and I hope that she stays around here for a long long time. She's a rarity and she makes a huge difference.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

ever better?

Spring said that reading my blog, we sound like a bunch of pale sickly people over here, and I suppose she could be right. Last night brought Z to my bed at 4 am with a high fever, moaning and saying that her tummy hurt. That is never good news and usually means a long sleepless night and a lot of laundry.

She really is feeling bad. I think she might have strep throat. She gets that about every other year, and it's terrible.

Sylvan and I have a deep cough that is the remnants of this last cold, and we sound terrible.

I put in a call to our wonderful doctor, and hopefully I'll hear back from her soon. (We have a doctor who is kind and smart and conscientious and....she does house calls!)

**update**
Our dr. has dropped by and says that both the kids and I have a walking pneumonia. This explains a lot.

She prescribed a few things, and says that we should all get lots of sleep and fluids. (for Spring and others, it takes prolonged close contact to catch it from us, like sleeping in the same room for several nights, so don't worry!)

Monday, January 02, 2006

holidays

Now I have the bad cold that Scott had over the holidays, so I'm feeling pretty low, but I wanted to write about our Christmas. It was the best one I have had in years and years. Scott and I were so excited to have our own house to decorate. Right when we decided to get the house, I think one of the first things he said was, "Can we decorate for Christmas? Like with a tree and lights and candles and everything??!?" And I said, of course we will! He was excited to be able to hang up all of the ornaments that he had that were so important to him as he was growing up.

So we moved in a big beautiful Christmas tree before anything else. Scott's family has a tradition of going to a local tree farm and choosing and cutting a tree, and they invited the kids and I to come along with them. They have been going to the same farm since before they even moved to Petaluma, so it was really special. Let me tell you, it's way different than choosing a tree from out in the Target garden department! It was so pretty there, with little foot bridges and paths to walk on and the kids had a grand time adventuring through the trees and finding little hiding places, and looking for the "perfect" tree. It really started the holiday season off the right way.

Being with his family was the nicest thing about this year's Christmas. They really made the kids and I feel included and they were so thoughtful and sweet. They helped us a lot with our move as well (so much that I could write a three page thank you letter, and actually I've been working on one for a while which I will hopefully be able to keep shorter than three pages), and I feel really grateful and also excited about getting to know them more.

Scott was very sick on the actual day of Christmas, so we weren't able to spend as much time at their house as we would have liked. He came home and slept for two days! But we both agreed that this was an extremely meaningful and special Christmas. He was happy to be able to share with me and with the kids some of the warmth of his family's holiday celebrations, and I was happy to be a part of it.